Bow Island to receive COVID-19 relief funding

By Justin Seward

Commentator/Courier

Bow Island town council was notified at their Sept. 28 meeting that they would be receiving Municipal Operating Support Transfer to help with COVID-19 relief.
The town is expecting to receive an allocation of $211,000 within the next month to cover off the loss of operating revenue since May from the COVID-19 pandemic
“We can use that money towards PPE supplies and loss of revenue for recreational facilities,” said Dave Matz, the town’s chief administrative officer.
“We haven’t got a lot of details on exactly what they’ll let us spend it on.”
The federal government announced the funding in early September and was rolled out at the provincial level near the end of last month.
Personal spending plan
Council voted in favour of full time town employees participating in AUMA’s (Alberta Urban Municipalities)personal spending plan.
The plan works where employees can decide whetheror not to allocate the benefits they receive with the health care spending plan to the personal spending plan. This would allow for more options for the employee and would become a taxable benefit.
Fortis fee
The Fortis franchise fee will remain the same as last year at 8.5 per cent.
The 2020 fee will see an estimated revenue of $116,029 and in 2021 $117,232.